"Hey, Morgan," Catherine spoke softly into the microphone of her head piece.
"What's up?" her friend replied from her post in the CIC.
"I think I've almost finished rewriting to code for the life support," Catherine said, surprise in her voice.
"What? No way!" Morgan replied. "That should have taken another week at least. I've got at least a day left figuring out the shields on this thing. "
"I think the Normandy's VI has been helping," Catherine said, whispering again. The comm channels weren't intended for personal communication. She and Morgan had already been chewed out once for it. "I'm starting to think there's a lot more to her than meets the eye."
"Have you heard the way Joker talks to her?"
"Yes. And see, even you're calling her a she."
"Speaking of Joker. He's just been escorted onto the bridge again. Hang on. I'll see if I can find out what's up."
Catherine turned her mic off and returned to her work at the console in life support. The room was a little cave of a place next to the drive core. When Catherine had started work on the Normandy the room had possessed a window that look out onto the massive Tantalus engine. The pulse and flash of the core had been hypnotic, even in its dormant state while the ship was docked. Now it was just dark and a little creepy.
The mic in her ear crackled and Morgan's voice came through.
"Something's going on," she said, her voice nervous. "Anderson ordered him here."
Without warning the entire ship rattled and shook around them. Her connection to Morgan was cut. Catherine stopped what she was doing and listened. She could hear footsteps echoing in the corridor outside and she moved for the door to find out what was happening.
She expected the doors to open as she approached but nothing happened.
"What the hell..." she muttered.
"Serviceman Hogan," a feminine voice came from the floating blue orb in the wall next to her. "Undocking will commence in thirty seconds. You are requested to find a seat with a flight harness and secure yourseld."
"Why? What's going on, EDI?" Catherine asked frantically. "Why are we undocking?"
There was no reply from the VI. A deep hum filled the room and intense vibration nearly shook Catherine from her feet. She stumbled back into the main area of the room and flipped down the flight chair in the corner. Her hands shook as she fumbled with the harness, trying to get her arms through the loops and the buckles clipped.
Another voice spoke through her headset and through the main sound system of the ship, echoing between Catherine's ears in a weird stereo.
"This is Major Alenko. Earth is under attack. The Reapers are here. Hang tight everyone. We're going for Commander Shepard."
Catherine barely had time to register that she recognized he name Alenko before the ship slewed hard to port and she was thrown hard into the wall and almost out of the seat. She tugged desperately at her restraints, trying to get them tighter.
The minutes dragged by. The only sounds Catherine could here over the throb of the drive core was static from her ear piece. Her mind reeled with images of the sky scrapers of Vancouver burning, the palms and rhododendrons turning to ash in the streets, people running and screaming in panic and pandemonium.
She closed her eyes and tried to force down the bile rising in her throat. She thought of her mother and knew that on this beautiful sunny day she would have been sitting out on her balcony reading. Would she have seen what was happening? Would she have made it to the bunker under the complex? Her home was on the slopes of Grouse Mountain, far from the core of the city. Maybe she was safe. Maybe the Reapers would focus on Alliance headquarters before going to the outlying burrows.
The ship wove from side to side. Catherine's neck ached with the effort of keeping her head from slamming into the wall behind. Her omnitool chimed the hour and she realized half an hour had passed since EDI had warned her about the take off. How could time be moving so quickly and so slowly at the same time?
Then everything slowed. The pulse of the drive core slowed and the high pitched whine of a hydraulics pierced through the din. The inertial dampers couldn't quite compensate for the up and down motion of the ship as it hovered. Catherine reached for the buckles of the harness but EDI voice sounded in her ear piece.
"Please do not release your restraints. We will be moving through the atmosphere shortly. There will be some turbulence."
"EDI, please!" Catherine shouted. "What's going on?"
The VI didn't reply. The hydraulics whined again and Catherine was pressed back into the seat as the ship rocketed upwards.
Her stomach lurched as the Normandy entered space and the antigrav fields shifted to compensate. There was the briefest moment of weightlessness before gravity returned to normal. Catherine knew that meant they must have exited the atmosphere at incredible speeds.
She ignored EDI's next request for her to stay in her seat and threw off the harness and stood on wobbly legs. Thankfully the VI did not go so far as to lock her with the life support deck and the door opened as she neared it.
Carherine raced down the hallway past the elevator and the crew quarters and into the starboard observation deck. The viewport was sealed and showed only the ribbed metal of the protective shutter. She slapped the control next to the glass and the shutter responded, retracting slowly upwards.
The view it revealed brought Catherine to her knees. The globe that was Earth was quickly receding in the near distance, but the fires devouring the Pacific coast of Asia could still seen beyond the terminator line of a new dawn, a sickly bright copper glow of super-heated metal and molten glass.
Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, Jakarta, Singapore, Manila. Like bloody smears on the pristine face of Gaia they fell in raging infernos, like a backwards image of Earth's prosperity.
"No," Catherine whimpered, repeating the word like mantra.
Pain pierced her chest and she clutched at it, unable to draw breath.
Reapers descended through the atmosphere, crimson entry trails following them like the burning trains of desecrated wedding gowns. Hundreds of them littered the skies, plowing through the clouds with sickening determination and purpose.
The ship banked steeply and the moon eclipsed her view of the ravagement taking place below. But even Luna burned. A horrifying creature of incredible size stalked across the rocky surface on six insectile legs, its metal carapace opening to vomit forth a fiercely bright laser that razed everything in its path.
And then Luna was gone from sight and Catherine's grief and shock overcame her. A comforting hand fell on her shoulder and only then did she realize that she was not alone.
Several others leaned against the glass, their faces frozen masks of heartache and terror and disbelief. More stood behind them, their bodies frozen in a tableau of the disaster struck.
Somebody helped Catherine to her feet and then to a seat on one of the couches. Not long after a deep, yet distinctly feminine voice came through the comms above their heads.
"This is Commander Shepard." Her voice was aggressive and angry, but also somehow compassionate and sympathetic at the same time. "I won't beat around the bush here. The devastation we just witnessed on Earth is only the beginning. The Reapers are here. I know you all have questions. I don't have all the answers, but what I know, you'll know."
There was a long pause, and for a moment Catherine thought that was all there would be from the legendary war hero.
"I've been reinstated as Commander of the Normandy. I know this was meant to be Admiral Anderson's ship. I know you're not her crew, but I need you... humanity needs you to stand tall and harden your hearts. Admiral Hackett has ordered us to Mars. After that it's the Citadel. Beyond that, I don't know. Stand strong. We can do this. Shepard out."
The comm went silent and Catherine stared with vacant unseeing eyes out into the depths of space beyond the heavy glass of the viewport. Time lost all meaning as she gazed out into the abyss. Thoughts became things of pure emotion and she waded through them with heavy legs.
"System Operation Chiefs are asked to report to the CIC."
Catherine heard EDI's voice but the words were meaningless. Someone took her by the hand and lead her out the door and to the elevator. As the doors hissed shut she returned to reality, a sheath of cold denial enveloping her.
"Where are we going?" she asked the woman beside her.
"SOCs were called to the CIC," the woman responded. Catherine knew her name but her brain wouldn't provide it. "You're in charge of life support, right?"
"Yes, but-"
The elevator door opened to the CIC and Catherine was cut off. They filed out and joined several other people standing to the right of the galaxy map. A tall man in the casual fatigues of an officer paced in front of them, his handsome face creased with worry.
Catherine found Morgan and the two women stood side by side at the back of the group, leaning on each other for support.
"Is this everyone?" the man asked.
"Yes," EDI said over the loud speaker. "We do not have a Mess Sergeant, Medical Officer, or Facilities Officer at the moment."
The man nodded and turned to the assembled SOCs.
"I'm Major Kaidan Alenko."
Catherine's heart skipped a beat as she realized how she knew the name.
"As ranking officer I'll be acting as Commander Shepard's Executive Officer until a proper crew can be assembled. If a proper crew can be assembled. It won't be long until we reach Mars and I'll be part of the ground team going planetside. The ship has to be running like clockwork before then."
"But Sir," someone at the front said. "Like the Commander said, we aren't the crew. Most of us are just the techs part of the team refitting the ship."
"I know that, but right now you're all we've got," Major Alenko said. Catherine could hear the stress in his voice, see the fear in his eyes. "EDI has already designated stations in the CIC for each of you. Everyone aboard is pulling a long one today. You've all been through basic boot camp and you know the drills. The Commander runs a tight ship, but I know she'll let things slide if you aren't the spit and polish crew she expects."
The Major began directing them all to their workstations along the perimeter of the CIC and the hallway leading to the bridge.
"I don't know anything about maintain a shield while in flight," Morgan whispered to Catherine.
"I know him," Catherine whispered back.
"Catherine Hogan, Life Support Chief," Major Alenko called from his datapad.
Catherine stepped forward and gave him a sharp salute. He barely gave her a second glance as he directed her to a station near the bridge. She trotted away and swung herself into the seat. The holographic screens adjusted to her reach and she logged into the system.
She let her mind fall into the tedium that monitoring life support required. Stats and readings scrolled down the screens and by reflex she grabbed at the ones that seemed off and adjusted systems to compensate. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Major jog by on his way to the bridge. She could just hear the conversation he had there with Joker.
"How long 'til Mars," Major Alenko asked.
"I can't make the jump yet," Joker explained. "Adams is fixing something in engineering. We took a hard hit while undocking."
"I estimate no more than five minutes for the repair," EDI said. "Major, the Commander is waiting for you in the armory."
"On my way," the Major said, and Catherine turned to watch him jog back down the hallway and through the CIC to the elevator.
Morgan's station was two down from her's and Catherine caught the other woman's eye for a moment. Morgan too seemed to be functioning on auto pilot, focusing on her terminal to keep her mind off the carnage they'd just seen.
Moments later Joker's voice sounded through the ship.
"Brace for FTL jump. ETA to Mars eight minutes."
Seconds later the noise level in the ship amped up and Catherine could see the kinetic barriers light up around the ship, flashing and pulsating through the bridge windows. She gave herself a moment to acknowledge that she'd scored an excellent workstation and then turned her mind back to the task of maintaining life support.
The ship shuttered as it exited FTL flight and switched to in-system drives. EDI alerted the crew to brace for entry into the atmosphere and Catherine pulled her arms through the harness straps attached to the seat.
"Clear hanger bay for shuttle exit," EDI's said, this time in Catherine's headset not ship wide. "Hanger clear. Opening hanger doors. Shuttle away. Serviceman Hogan, are you clear on your duties now?"
"My duties?" Catherine asked, unsure how her job had changed.
"The shuttle bay and armory are sealed with a kinetic barrier when opened in vacuum or low atmosphere," EDI explained. "The shuttle can pass through, but leaks often occur. It is the duty of the life support officer to ensure that the bay returns to normal as quickly as possible after the shuttle exits or enters."
"Oh, yeah, okay," Catherine said absently.
She called up readings specific to the lower decks and adjusted the CO2 filters and oxygen input.
"Shuttle Bay clear," she said into her head piece.
An round light in the lower right corner of her console turned from yellow to green.
"What does the light mean, EDI?"
"The light indicates the alert status of the ship," EDI said, her voice soothingly calm. "A green light tells you that you may leave your station for personal reasons. Yellow means that you are required to stay at your station for all but professional reasons, such as speaking to your deck officer. If the light is red, it means that you must not leave your station unless ordered to. Typically the light will only appear as red when we are engaged in active warfare."
"So, I can get up and walk around now?"
"Do you wish me to take over monitoring of life support?"
"Umm, yeah," Catherine said. "I won't be long."
She unbuckled and lifted herself out of the seat, stepping up onto the metal grating of the deck. She stood for a moment with her head down. There had been no destination in mind when she left her post, she just felt the need to move.
Morgan was working furiously at her station. Most of the read outs were Greek to Catherine's eyes, but she could understand enough to see that Morgan had her work cut out for her bringing the shields back to full power.
No one said anything as Catherine wandered back through the CIC and to the elevator. Her belongings were stored in a locker in the crew quarters and a need she could put no name to drove her to go there now.
The elevator doors opened to a silent deck. The ship didn't have a full complement and most of those on board were now in the CIC and war room. Directly across from the elevators was a memorial wall, filled with the names of the fallen who had served on the original Normandy.
Catherine's eyes move down the list, silently reading the names one by one. When she finished she went back to the top and read them again and again. She'd read them all before but now they held more meaning. These were among the first casualties of the war with the Reapers. They lost their lives fighting to keep everyone else in the galaxy safe and how had they been rewarded? A wall of names and a trillion people still unprepared to defend against the biggest threat they'd ever faced.
With a sad shake of her head, Catherine turned from the wall and walked slowly to the crew quarters. At the door she stopped and surveyed the small room crowded with bunks and lockers. Would this be where she'd sleep from now on? This tiny room with no privacy and no windows.
She'd been in and out of this room every day for months, stowing and retrieving her gear at the beginning of each shift, but she'd never really looked at it. There was nothing homey about it. Everything was metal and cold and hard. Even the beds with their crisply laundered and tightly tucked sheets looked chilled and uninviting.
Half an hour before, the tears she'd shed had been for Earth and all her people. The tears running down her cheeks now, Catherine cried for herself.
She keyed in the code for her locker and reached inside. Her backpack was open, the head of her small brown teddy bear poking out. Her fingers went around it and she pulled it out, holding it to her chest, its fuzzy head tucked under her chin.
Her shift should be just ending. She should be pulling this pack onto her shoulder and heading to her mother's house for the night. The change of clothes inside should have been for the BBQ being held in the housing complex that night. Hours from now she should have been pulling on her pajamas and curling up in the guest bed in the sunroom with her bear.
It had been a gift from her mother on Valentine's Day when Catherine was fourteen years old. Scorned by a boy for the first time, her mother had left the bear propped up on her pillow with a note that said You can't hurry love.
"Oh, mummy," Catherine croaked through her constricted throat. "Mummy, please be safe."
Catherine held the bear close and sobbed until her eyes burned and her collar was wet with tears. Then anger took hold and she wiped savagely at her cheeks. She latched onto the anger and felt her lip begin to curl up in a noiseless snarl.
Stuffing the bear away and sealing her locker she turned and stalked down the hall to life support. EDI popped up as she entered.
"Is everything all right, Serviceman Hogan?"
"I'm fine," Catherine spat. "And please stop calling me Serviceman. Catherine will do fine."
"As you wish, Catherine," EDI complied easily. "If you wish, you may monitor life support from here. It is one of the few systems that does not require you to be present in the CIC to perform your duty. However, if we shift to yellow or red alert, you must return to your station."
Catherine nodded and threw herself back into her work.
Life support required little attention when the ship was idle and running silent. The ship practically ran itself it seemed, lending further credence to Catherine's theory that EDI was more than she seemed.
Several hours later EDI alerted her that the shuttle was returning. With came a massive amount of dust and debris that took her several extra minutes to clear from the air before she could declare the shuttle bay to be at normality.
While she worked there was a commotion outside at the elevator. She heard Shepard's voice yelling at Joker to get them out of there and get a link to Hackett.
"Catherine, you are asked report to medical," EDI said as Catherine was putting the final touches on the atmosphere in the hanger.
"Me? Why?"
"There has been an severe injury."
Catherine's brow furrow as she wondered why anyone would want her help in medical. She left life support and as she came around the corner into the mess hall she could see into medical where someone paced and body lay prone on a gurney.
A bear of a man met her at the door. He stood nearly a foot taller than her and with his armor still on he seemed ten times bigger.
"You the life support tech?" he asked.
"Yes," Catherine replied nervously.
"Keep him alive until we got the Citadel." He pointed to the figure on the gurney.
"I'm not a doctor," she protested. "I... I don't know the first thing about saving a life."
"You're Alliance and that means you've had trauma training," he replied angrily. "And you're life support so you know how to take stat readings. The Commander is not going to be happy if he dies."
Catherine put her hands on her hips and felt the snarl returning.
"So now this is on me? Who do you think you are anyway?"
The man seemed to swallow his ire and when he replied he was calmer and more reasonable.
"Sorry. Adrenaline. I'm Lieutenant James Vega. Major Alenko was injured. He's in rough shape. Do what you can."
With that he turned and left. The door closed and Catherine was left alone with the Major.
Picking up a scanner from the desk she stepped up the side of the bed. The Major's face was horribly bruised and swollen. She hardly recognized him from only hours before in the CIC. She didn't recognize him at all from the boy she'd know back on Earth so many, many years before.
Running a quick diagnostic of his suits computer showed her that his life signs were fading fast. He had massive internal bleeding around his brain and his biotic implant was sending dangerous electrical pulses through the connected synapses.
A few quick motions with her omnitool shut the implant down and immediately his stats leveled out. He wasn't going to die, but whether he would wake up with his brain undamaged remained to be seen.
His armor made him incredibly heavy, but Catherine managed to get him lying comfortably on the gurney, at least what she thought would be comfortably. She knew enough to leave his suit in place. Its internal life support would keep his core temperature regulated and hopefully stop him from going to shock.
With EDI's direction she started a central line just above his collar bone and began a saline drip with a medi-gel additive that would help with the swelling, but beyond that there was nothing more she could do.
She sat down at the desk and stared at the man on the table. Her mind tracked back through the long years to the last time she had seen him. He'd been just a boy of sixteen then, and her just a girl of fourteen. He hadn't even recognized her, but then she had taken a moment to remember him as well.
Her contemplation was broken when Joker announced that they were approaching the Sol relay. Once they were in transit Shepard's voice came on the comms speaking to the entire ship. She sounded tired, drained.
"We've suffered heavy losses today. All of us. I know you're scared and confused, but you're not alone. All of humanity stands with us and we're heading to the Citadel to recruit every fleet we can. The turians, the salarians, the asari, even the krogan, must help us. With them on our side, we can win this. But right now I need to know that I've got a capable crew. EDI tells me that you are all skilled and work well as a team. I need that. I need a crew who knows each other and knows the ship. That's you people. That being said, I know you're not all soldiers. Anyone who wants to leave is free to do so when we dock at the Citadel. Alliance Headquarters there will make sure you're looked after. But you have to make the decision quickly. The ship will need a full crew before we set out again. I don't know when that will be, and I don't know what comes next. Stay strong people, and good work. Shepard out."
Several minutes later Catherine nearly jumped out of her skin when the Commander rushed through the doors to medical and straight to the Major's side.
Catherine stood to attention, but Shepard waved her down.
"How is he?" Shepard asked. Her voice was softer than it had been on the comms.
"Uh, not good, Commander," Catherine said, feeling overwhelmed by Shepard's presence and scared she would get tongue-tied. "I've shut his implant down and that helped, but he needs far more than we can provide on the Normandy, and I'm not a medic."
Catherine got the impression that Shepard wasn't really listening to her. She leaned over the bed, her hair hiding her face, and lay the backs of her fingers on the Major's cheeks.
"Will he make it to the Citadel?"
"I think so, but he's in bad shape. We need to get there fast."
The Commander stood and Catherine thought she saw tears in the woman's eyes before she blinked hard and turned away from the bed.
"What's your name?" she asked Catherine.
"Serviceman Catherine Hogan," she replied, standing to attention again.
Shepard gave her a salute in return and laid a hand on her shoulder briefly as she walked from the room.
"Good work, Hogan," she said. "I hope you'll stick around."
Catherine turned and watched her go and she knew at the very moment that she would never leave the Normandy. She would follow the Commander to hell and back. She'd always heard Shepard had charisma, but it had been an understatement. Those few words, that passing touch, had earned Catherine's loyalty. From anyone else it might have seemed trite, even false, but from Shepard the message was clear. I value you. I'm loyal to you.
And so, Catherine's fate became sealed. Whatever happened to Shepard, whatever happened to the Normandy, would happen to her.